American Gurus

American Gurus
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages : 321
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780199368136
ISBN-13 : 0199368139
Rating : 4/5 (139 Downloads)

Book Synopsis American Gurus by : Arthur Versluis

Download or read book American Gurus written by Arthur Versluis and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the early twenty-first century, a phenomenon that once was inconceivable had become nearly commonplace in American society: the public spiritual teacher who neither belongs to, nor is authorized by a major religious tradition. From the Oprah Winfrey-endorsed Eckhart Tolle to figures like Gangaji and Adhyashanti, there are now countless spiritual teachers who claim and teach variants of instant or immediate enlightenment. American Gurus tells the story of how this phenomenon emerged. Through an examination of the broader literary and religious context of the subject, Arthur Versluis shows that a characteristic feature of the Western esoteric tradition is the claim that every person can achieve "spontaneous, direct, unmediated spiritual insight." This claim was articulated with special clarity by the New England Transcendentalists Bronson Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Versluis explores Transcendentalism, Walt Whitman, the Beat movement, Timothy Leary, and the New Age movement to shed light on the emergence of the contemporary American guru. This insightful study is the first to show how Asian religions and Western mysticism converged to produce the phenomenon of "spontaneously enlightened" American gurus.


American Gurus Related Books

American Gurus
Language: en
Pages: 321
Authors: Arthur Versluis
Categories: Religion
Type: BOOK - Published: 2014 - Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

GET EBOOK

By the early twenty-first century, a phenomenon that once was inconceivable had become nearly commonplace in American society: the public spiritual teacher who
In Defense of the Guru Principle
Language: en
Pages: 0
Authors: Andrew Cohen
Categories: Gurus
Type: BOOK - Published: 1999 - Publisher:

GET EBOOK

In this time of confusion and cynicism about spiritual authority, Andrew Cohen speaks with unusual candour and passion about his own experience as a spiritual m
Homegrown Gurus
Language: en
Pages: 248
Authors: Ann Gleig
Categories: Religion
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-11-01 - Publisher: SUNY Press

GET EBOOK

Exploring homegrown movements and figures, proclaims “American Hinduism” as a distinct religious tradition. Today, a new stage in the development of Hinduism
When Shadow Meets the Bodhisattva
Language: en
Pages: 368
Authors: Andrew Cohen
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2023-01-31 - Publisher: Simon and Schuster

GET EBOOK

Insights from a renowned spiritual teacher’s intense soul-searching after the dramatic collapse of his spiritual community • Explores the rise and fall of t
11 Days at the Edge
Language: en
Pages: 513
Authors: Michael
Categories: Religion
Type: BOOK - Published: 2008-06-01 - Publisher: Findhorn Press

GET EBOOK

Revolutionary idealist and vocal cultural critic Andrew Cohen promotes a new spiritual paradigm in this exploration of a true visionary’s controversial school